scholarly journals Corruption, political discretion and entrepreneurship

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Jiménez ◽  
Ilan Alon

Purpose While common sense suggests that corruption will likely have a negative impact on the economy as it raises the cost of doing business, research on the topic showed inconsistent results (positive, negative and neutral). This paper aims to verify whether corruption has a “grease” or “sand” effect on the wheels of entrepreneurial rates and under which conditions corruption will have stronger or weaker effects. Design/methodology/approach Using institutional theory as the basis for the hypotheses, generalized least squares estimation is conducted to empirically examine the role of corruption and political discretion in entrepreneurship in a sample of 93 countries. Findings Countries with higher levels of corruption are associated with lower levels of firm creation. However, this negative effect of corruption is weaker when there are higher levels of political discretion. Originality/value This is the first evaluation of the moderating effect of political discretion on the negative impact of corruption on entrepreneurship.

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 5-7

Purpose The authors wanted to find out if hiring temporary staff at busy A&E departments had a negative impact on the work of permanent staff. Design/methodology/approach They did semi-structured interviews with managers and permanent staff at two London NHS hospitals with different policies for hiring temps. Hospital A prioritized the use of NHS professions for its bank and agency nurses, as well as doctors and locums. Hospital B focused more on using its own internal bank staff as temps. Findings The findings showed the generally negative effect of using temporary staff on permanent staff. But the reaction of permanent staff depended on the type of temporary staff. More experienced temps could generally be trusted to get on with the job, whereas the inexperienced ones required more supervision. Originality/value The authors proposed an approach to improved practice beginning with “macro-level managers” who could maintain service quality as a higher priority than contracting costs. They could also encourage permanent staff to do occasional temporary shifts. The co-authors also felt that “meso-level managers” could be given the role of hiring “preferred temps” where possible.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Hsiang Tseng ◽  
Nga Cheng Chan ◽  
Matthew Tingchi Liu ◽  
Chieh-Yu Lin

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effects of brand origin (BO) misperception (hereafter BOM) or non-identification on brand equity. Besides, the current study investigates the moderating role of brand strength in the relationship between BOM and brand equity.Design/methodology/approachThe current study adopted a 4 (BO identification: favorable BOM vs adverse BOM vs non-identification vs correct identification) × 2 (brand strength: strong vs weak) between-subjects design. A total number of 547 participants performed assessments on the automotive brand. The current study selected three strong brands and three weak brands for tests. In the experiment, respondents had to associate the brand with its country of origin. The assignment of BO conditions was based upon respondents' natural responses provided. ANOVA was used for data analysis.FindingsThe results indicate that as compared to correct BO identification, BOM (either adverse or favorable) or non-identification exerts a more negative impact on brand equity. Moreover, the study demonstrates that brand strength moderates the effect of perceived BO on brand equity.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical support to the notion that BOM is detrimental to brand equity. Specifically, when adverse BOM occurs, a strong brand suffers more from the negative consequences resulted than a weak brand does. Conversely, when consumers misattribute the BO to a country with a stronger image than its real origin (i.e. favorable BOM), the resulting negative effect is reversed. Moreover, the non-identification of BO hurts the brand equity of both strong and weak brands.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadija Ali Vakeel ◽  
K. Sivakumar ◽  
K.R. Jayasimha ◽  
Shubhamoy Dey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on failures in online flash sales (OFS) and to explore why consumers participate in an OFS even after experiencing service failure. It also examines the role of deal proneness, attribution, and emotions. Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed method approach to gain insights into this relatively unexplored phenomenon of OFS, this research uses netnography followed by a survey study. Findings The findings show that deal-prone customers tend to ignore service failures during OFS and re-participate in the future. In the context of OFS, failures attributed to internal locus of attribution (LOA) also have a negative effect on re-participation compared with failures attributed to external LOA. Furthermore, there is a three-way interaction among deal proneness, LOA, and past emotions. The results show that negative past emotions further exacerbate the impact of attribution on the link between deal proneness and re-participation. Originality/value In contrast with prior research, the paper shows that consumers participate even after service failure. The proposed difference is between customers who experience different LOA and past emotions offers insights into their behavior after service failure in a new context of an online/electronic commerce event – flash sales. This paper specifically explores the role of internal LOA and finds that it has a more negative impact than external LOA on re-participation.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Chen ◽  
Fengxia Zhu ◽  
Murali Mantrala

Purpose This paper aims to systematically investigate the direct and indirect effects of four types of support – peer instrumental support, peer emotional support, platform business support and platform communication support – on seller trade volume in social commerce. It also aims to uncover the path of support-to-sales of the seller from a platform perspective and provides a more complete picture of the social commerce phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses multi-source data including primary survey data and secondary data on trade volume to test the hypotheses. PROCESS mediation model is used to analyze the multi-source data set. Findings This study finds that the positive effects of peer instrumental support, platform business support and platform communication support on seller trade volume are fully mediated by seller collaborative information exchange. Also, peer emotional support has a significant negative effect on seller trade volume and collaborative information exchange can serve as a buffer to mitigate the negative effect. Research limitations/implications The authors provide new insights into what types of support are or are not conducive to improving transaction volume of individual sellers and highlight the mediating role of seller information exchange in this value generation process in social commerce. These findings advance current knowledge of how seller interactions increase value in social commerce. The chosen research setting may limit the generalizability of the findings of this study. Practical implications This paper offers valuable implications for social commerce platforms on how to better serve their sellers to achieve high growth. Specifically, the findings suggest that platforms should encourage instrumental support and information exchange among peer sellers. In addition, platforms should expand seller support from a single-focus on sellers’ business to a dual-focus on both sellers’ business and socialization in social commerce. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to study how sellers can better derive value from the social interactions and how social commerce platforms can effectively influence transactions, support sales and serve as a selling platform.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianchun Zhang ◽  
Zhu Yao ◽  
Wan Qunchao ◽  
Fu-Sheng Tsai

Purpose Time pressure is the most common kind of work pressure that employees face in the workplace; the existing research results on the effect of time pressure are highly controversial (positive, negative, inverted U-shaped). Especially in the era of knowledge economy, there remains a research gap in the impact of time pressure on individual knowledge hiding. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of different time pressure (challenge and hindrance) on knowledge hiding and to explain why there is controversy about the effect of time pressure in the academics. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected two waves of data and surveyed 341 R&D employees in China. Moreover, they used regression analysis, bootstrapping and Johnson–Neyman statistical technique to verify research hypotheses. Findings The results show that challenge time pressure (CTP) has a significant negative effect on knowledge hiding, whereas hindrance time pressure (HTP) has a significant positive effect on knowledge hiding; job security mediates the relationship between time pressure and knowledge hiding; temporal leadership strengthen the positive impact of CTP on job security; temporal leadership can mitigate the negative impact of HTP on job security. Originality/value The findings not only respond to the academic debate about the effect of time pressure and point out the reasons for the controversy but also enhance the scholars’ attention and understanding of the internal mechanism between time pressure and knowledge hiding.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noufou Ouedraogo ◽  
Michel Zaitouni ◽  
Mohammed Laid Ouakouak

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of leadership credibility on employees' behaviours and attitudes towards organisational change through the lens of employee commitment to change.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a quantitative study in which 239 participants from diverse organisations participated.FindingsUsing structural equation modelling techniques, the results reveal that leadership credibility has a positive effect on both affective and normative commitment to change but a negative effect on continuance commitment to change. The authors also report that change success is positively impacted by affective commitment to change and negatively impacted by continuance commitment to change but is not significantly affected by normative commitment to change.Research limitations/implicationsThus, the authors contribute to closing a knowledge gap in change management theory while making practical recommendations for leading people during times of organisational transition.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the role of leadership credibility and employee commitment during organisational change.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Gyamfi Ababio ◽  
Arthur Gnonsio Mangueye

Purpose Improving tax compliance would drive the needed development in Ghana. Small and medium scale enterprises (SME) constitute a sizable proportion of the Ghanaian economy but its contribution to tax revenue is below expectation. This study aims to determine whether SME's perception of state legitimacy affects tax compliance. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was administered to 200 SMEs randomly drawn from Dodowa in the Shai-Osudoku District of Greater Accra Region. Descriptive statistics and the Probit model with sample selection were used to analyse the data. Findings The study found that SME's perception of government legitimacy exerts a significant negative effect on reducing profit to avoid tax liability (ß = −0.0305, p < 0.05). Other factors such as education and fear of fines and penalties were also found to reduce the likelihood that the firm would reduce profit to avoid high tax liability. Still, tax knowledge had a positive effect on this behaviour. Practical implications This study would help deepen policymakers' knowledge of how to improve tax compliance among SMEs in Ghana. Originality/value The originality of this work is that it explicitly models the role of fiscal exchange theory in explaining tax compliance among SMEs in Ghana by using robust methodology.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Unsal

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how firms’ relationships with employees define their debt maturity. The authors empirically test the role of employee litigations in influencing firms’ choice of short-term versus long-term debt. The authors study employee relations by analyzing the importance of the workplace environment on capital structure. Design/methodology/approach The author’s test hypotheses using a sample of US publicly traded firms between 2000 and 2017, including 3,056 unique firms with 4,256 unique chief executive officer, adopting the fixed effect panel model. Findings The authors document that employee litigations have a significant negative effect on the use of short-term debt and a significant positive affect on long-term debt. Employee litigations, along with legal fees, outcomes and charging parties, matter the most in explaining debt maturity. In addition, frequently sued firms abandon the short-term debt market and use less shareholders’ equity to finance their operations while relying more on the longer debt market. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the role of employee mistreatment in debt maturity choice. The study extends the lawsuit and finance literature by examining unique, hand-collected data sets of employee lawsuits, allegations, violations, settlements, charging parties, case outcomes and case durations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Martins Mendes De Luca ◽  
Paulo Henrique Nobre Parente ◽  
Emanoel Mamede Sousa Silva ◽  
Ravena Rodrigues Sousa

Purpose Following the tenets of resource-based view, the present study aims to investigate the effect of creative corporate culture according to the competing values framework model at the level of corporate intangibility and its respective repercussions on performance. Design/methodology/approach The sample included 117 non-USA foreign firms traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which issued annual financial reports between 2009 and 2014 using the 20-F form. To meet the study objectives, in addition to the descriptive and comparative analyses, the authors performed regression analyses with panel data, estimating generalized least-squares, two-stage least-squares and ordinary least-squares. Findings Creative culture had a negative effect on the level of intangibility and corporate performance, while the level of intangibility did not appear to influence corporate performance. When combined, creative culture and intangibility had a potentially negative effect on corporate results. In conclusion, creative corporate culture had a negative effect on performance, even in firms with higher levels of intangibility, characterized by elements like experimentation and innovation. Originality/value Although the study hypotheses were eventually rejected, the analyses are relevant to both the academic setting and the market because of the organizational and institutional aspects evaluated, especially in relation to intangibility and creative culture and in view of the unique cross-cultural approach adopted. Within the corporate setting, the study provides a spectrum of stakeholders with tools to identify the profile of foreign firms traded on the NYSE.


2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (8) ◽  
pp. 1550-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Wang ◽  
Haijun Bao

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the operation strategy of high-performance alliance portfolios by analyzing the effect of alliance portfolios on the performance of focal firms, using post-structuralism of social network theory and contingency theory. In detail, this paper refines alliance portfolios into three dimensions, and studies the moderating role of context on the relation between alliance portfolios and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study was carried out with second-hand data gathered from Internal Revenue Service. In total, this paper gathered data from 506 focal firms in Zhejiang Province from 2001 to 2010 as the sample to test the hypotheses. Findings Based on the empirical results, the authors find the positive effect of relational dimension (weak alliance portfolios) and partner dimension (the diversity of partners) on performance. The effect of the former will become weaker with the increasing environmental dynamic, while the effect of the latter will become stronger. However, the structural dimension (alliance portfolios size) and relational dimension (new partners) have the negative effect on performance. And the negative effect will become stronger under high environmental dynamic. Moreover, the negative effect of non-local partners on performance becomes stronger when the environmental dynamic is high. Research limitations/implications The paper reveals that with the industry transformation caused by “internet +,” companies have been required go beyond traditional dyadic alliance management perspective. That is to say, individual alliance relationship should be seen as a part of a much broader picture of alliance portfolio. As such, the framework may help companies to manage their alliance portfolios by matching high-performance alliance portfolios to the external environment to produce a synergistic effect (Lea et al., 2006; Tritos et al., 2013; Keith et al., 2014) taking the characteristics of the configuration of alliance portfolios into consideration. Originality/value The paper presents a model that explains the effect of three dimensions of alliance portfolios on the performance of focal firms in different contexts through empirical study. This paper also integrates post-structuralism of social network theory and contingency theory to enable the understanding on the configuration of alliance portfolios.


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